No, No, No! Could 'Watchmen' Get Delayed to 2010?
Filed under: Deals, Celebrities and Controversy, Exhibition, Comic/Superhero/Geek
Frakking lawsuits.
Last month, Elisabeth alerted you to the legal turmoil bubbling around Watchmen. Basically, 20th Century Fox used to have the rights, and claim they still have them, so they're trying to prevent Warner Brothers from releasing the eagerly awaited film. Warner Brothers, meanwhile, claims that Fox has sat silently until the film was set to go, knowing full well what was happening.
Now The New York Times says that Warner is pushing for a trial date of April, with Fox pushing for June. Assuming that the film can't be released until this is cleared up, we might not only not get Watchmen in March, but also not in the summer of 2009. Will we have to wait until 2010? I don't want to think about it. There's a whole swarm of moviegoers peeved about the Harry Potter delay. I can't imagine what a year-long delay would do to Watchmen fiends. Where's Doctor Manhattan when you need him? Or a jail-storming Nite Owl and Silk Spectre?
Related Headlines
Reader Comments
(Page 1)2. Monika, there's almost no chance that WATCHMEN will be delayed by so much as a single minute. One of the things that Fox is likely looking for is some points on the film, so having the thing get released is in their best interests. Also, as ugly as Hollywood is, no studio wants to be the one that smashes a tentpole film from another studio, especially in a year like 2009, which is short on blockbusters thanks to the writer's strike. That wouldn't just piss off the rest of Hollywood's creative community, that would turn theatrical exhibitors against Fox. Theater owners want WATCHMEN, which is going to make them more money than any Fox film in a few years.
There's a lot of legal wrangling going on with the case, but neither side wants it to go to court, and everything you're seeing is legal maneuvering. I appreciate sites keeping their readers up to date on the issue, but I get very concerned when an unsupported amount of alarmism happens. I suppose that it's possible that WATCHMEN gets delayed, but that's simply the least likely scenario.
3. Actually, I wouldn't get your hopes up much. Fox is suing to permanently block the release (as they claim they have the rights to the franchise) not just to get even financially with them. So if Fox wins, it's believed the film may never be shown period.
Posted at 1:15PM on Sep 2nd 2008 by TVGenius
4. Both studios will lose out. WB for not making sure this was all cleared up ahead of time, and Fox for being money-grubbing about it.
Oh well. This movie never would have been made if not for Spider-Man & X-men and the like.
I'm over it, the whole thing is just a money grab from the get go.
Posted at 1:42PM on Sep 2nd 2008 by Los
5. TVGenius - Which means they want money. Sue for the biggest possible thing they can, and then WB says "what's it going to take?", FOX says "a gagillion dollars", WB says, "fine". End of suit.
No way this doesn't get released.
Posted at 1:48PM on Sep 2nd 2008 by Astin
7. I'm scared
Posted at 2:28PM on Sep 2nd 2008 by drew
8. Ooooh that pisses me off. Bastards. I didn't even read the article. Saw the headline and my blood vessels exploded.
Posted at 6:20PM on Sep 2nd 2008 by mezzanine
9. Shrug. The movie will not do well anyway. The story is nothing short of predictable and boring. There's no climax to the film and the hokey alternative 80s thing isn't gonna play well with the crowd that goes to movies (folks born after 1990).
Posted at 12:48AM on Sep 3rd 2008 by YouFaceTheTick
10. According to the Hollywood Reporter article at http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/film/news/e3id7efd5118ad0ac0728020a905a1f15ac which is more recent than the NY Times article, the trial has been scheduled for Jan. 6, so if they work out a deal there should be no delay in the release date 03-06-09.
Posted at 2:46AM on Sep 8th 2008 by Jesse M.
Add your comments
Please keep your comments relevant to this blog entry. Email addresses are never displayed, but they are required to confirm your comments.
When you enter your name and email address, you'll be sent a link to confirm your comment, and a password. To leave another comment, just use that password.
To create a live link, simply type the URL (including http://) or email address and we will make it a live link for you. You can put up to 3 URLs in your comments. Line breaks and paragraphs are automatically converted — no need to use <p> or <br> tags.
1. Man, this is some repugnant stuff. I'd boycott if I wasn't already being crushed under the weight of my own fanboyism.
Posted at 12:31PM on Sep 2nd 2008 by Matthew